Correlation between haplotype of apolipoprotein B gene and natural longevity persons in Uygur nationality

Interactive association of heat shock protein 70 genes variants with natural longevity in Xinjiang Hetian Uygur ethnicity

Mounting evidence suggests that all organisms at the cellular level respond to stress by synthesizing heat shock proteins at the expense of other proteins, and the ability of human cells to respond to heat stress decreases with aging. We thus investigate the association of 3 variants (A1267G in HSPA1B, G190C in HSPA1A, and T2437C in HSPA1L) in the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) family with natural longevity in a Xinjiang Hetian Uygur population. A case-control study was conducted in 191 healthy individuals greater than 90 years of age, and 53 naturally died persons 65-70 years of age. Promoter activity was evaluated by luciferase reporter assays. The data were analyzed using an EH/EH+ program for haplotype prediction and MDR software for gene-gene interaction. All studied variants satisfied the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in each group. In single-locus analysis, no significant differences were found between long-lived people and short-lived people in the genotype/allele distributions of all variants. In contrast, haplotype analysis indicated that haplotypes A-G-C and A-C-T were more prevalent in long-lived people than short-lived people (P=0.026 and 0.017), and the analysis conferred a 3.46- and 4.51-fold increased tendency for longevity, respectively (P=0.025 and 0.016). The haplotype results were strengthened by interaction analysis, which suggests an optimal model in which G190C and T2437C exert an interacting effect on longevity. No functional significance was observed between 190G and 190C alleles in both control and heat-inducible A549 cells (P>0.05). Taken together, our findings suggested that common genetic variants in Hsp70 family might contribute interactively to longevity the Xinjiang Hetian Uygur population.

Genetic epidemiology in aging research

Over the last two decades, aging research has expanded to include not only age-related disease models, and conversely, longevity and disease-free models, but also focuses on biological mechanisms related to the aging process. By viewing aging on multiple research frontiers, we are rapidly expanding knowledge as a whole and mapping connections between biological processes and particular age-related diseases that emerge. This is perhaps most true in the field of genetics, where variation across individuals has improved our understanding of aging mechanisms, etiology of age-related disease, and prediction of therapeutic responses. A close partnership between gerontologists, epidemiologists, and geneticists is needed to take full advantage of emerging genome information and technology and bring about a new age for biological aging research. Here we review current genetic findings for aging across both disease-specific and aging process domains. We then highlight the limitations of most work to date in terms of study design, genomic information, and trait modeling and focus on emerging technology and future directions that can partner genetic epidemiology and aging research fields to best take advantage of the rapid discoveries in each.